


Glorious You

by musicismagic



Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: DEFINITELY eventual smut!, Eventual Smut, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, MAYBE!, Slow Burn, Who Am I Kidding?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-26
Updated: 2016-04-28
Packaged: 2018-05-29 07:18:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 7,516
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6364606
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/musicismagic/pseuds/musicismagic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After being injured during a mission with the Legends crew Captain Cold ends up stuck in the med bay of Star Labs for a few days to recover. He and Team Flash grow closer as he uses his almost unrivaled intellect and observational skills to help them bring down a meta human causing trouble in their city.<br/>~~~~~<br/>This is taking place in an indetermined time in the future of the Flash universe, when the Zoom situation has been resolved (don't ask me how, I don't really know!) and Jesse didn't leave when she found out about Harrys more extreme measures to save her. From the Legends perspective, they have not beaten Savage yet, but they have succeeded in saving Mick from the brainwashing and he feels that he has a place with Len and the Legends. Saras bloodlust is under control and the team works well together. Team Flash knew that Sara, Stein, Ray and Jax were off with Rip, hence why they're not too suspicious when he turns up with Gideon, but had no idea Cold and Heatwave had also been drafted into the team.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fic for this fandom and only my fourth ever so please let me know if there's anything you think I can do to make it better.  
> I'm also crazy busy so I don't make any promises to post regularly, just that I will update when I can. I do have a buffer of a few chapters so hopefully that means I can be a bit regular about posting.

I can see you hurting beneath your new red dress  
Beneath your sharp new shoes and your new tattoos you are directionless  
And I know you've been working as hard as you can  
To pre-empt the question, the expectation and I understand  
  
So come on now if we all pull together  
We can lift up the weight of the world from your shoulders  
Lift up the weight of the world from your shoulders  
Just for a moment or two  
  
From the moment the phone alarm cuts the morning in two  
To the moment you close your bedroom door and all that's left is you  
There are a thousand auditions you didn't quite get through  
So many masks to wear, so much weight to bear but you were only ever you  
You were glorious you, you were glorious

~~~~~

“For real?! Could this week get any worse” Barry groaned, rubbing a hand down his face in an attempt to smooth away the tension headache building behind his temples and eyes.

“Tell me about it, man. At least you haven’t had to play referee between the dysfunctional duo currently taking over ALL of my lab space. Seriously, if Harry and Jesse don’t start getting along I’m going to lock one of them in the pipeline.” Ciscos tinny voice replied through the speaker of Barrys cell phone.

“Sorry, dude, but that train wreck is all yours until I pick up this new meta. What are the reports saying she can do again?”

Barry listened attentively as Cisco explained her ability to induce a highly suggestible trance like state in anyone she touched and how those people had been stealing for her, protecting her from enemies and causing distractions while she made her getaways. 

As Barry listened, he began picking through the sodden mess that was formerly his lab.Some kind of fault with the sprinkler system had led to almost the entire CCPD looking like it had had a hose pipe turned on it, but in the lab it was more like a water cannon.

The lab housed dangerous chemicals and potentially flammable material, so the sprinkler system there was much higher pressured and the resulting mess was...catastrophic.

There was evidence for at least three ongoing murder cases, fifteen burglaries and a whole host of documents and equipment that were completely ruined. Captain Singh had been glaring at Barry like it was his fault the sprinklers decided to break all morning, and Barry was getting sick of it.

Cisco had finished telling him about the new meta that they’d have to start hunting down when he was off shift, and was now bemoaning the difficulties of being stuck between two stubborn geniuses trying to work through having been cut off from their home world. Barrys mind was wandering and he found himself speed doodling on the only dry peice of paper he’d managed to find in the place.

When Cisco had finally completed his latest rant about Harry and Jesse (“And they drink all the coffee and don’t bother refilling the pot, Barry! I’m pretty sure that is covered under the Geneva Convention as some kind of inhumane act!”), Barry looked down to see his doodle and instead found a list.

Reasons Barry Allens life sucks:

  1. Sprinklers!!!!!
  2. Golden Glider and The Rogues stole a million dollar painting, in broad daylight, while I was stuck in a mandatory first aid class that I could have taught with my eyes shut
  3. Joe and Iris out of town (visiting Wally, which is good! For 2 weeks, which is bad)
  4. See above as it means no food unless I make it myself!
  5. Two of the brightest, but most obnoxious, minds of any earth are currently trapped in the basement of Star labs because one is supposed to be dead and the other isn’t supposed to exist on this earth.
  6. New Meta stealing things and putting people in danger when I could really do with a night off



Barry had to give a small chuckle at the fact that his misery made for such an interesting and varied list, but it was short lived as his phone rang again and Ciscos face popped up on the screen once more.

Barry tucked the phone under his ear as he answered, crumpling up the piece of paper and throwing it into the nearest bin.

“Hey Cisco? What’s up now buddy, Harry and Jesse arguing over the last cup of coffee again?”

“Barry, you need to get back to Star Labs. Right. Now!”

Barry didn’t need to hear anything else, he just ran.

 

*****

 

It was less than three minutes before Barry was skidding to a slightly smokey halt at Ciscos side in the Cortex staring at none other than Captain Cold.

“Hiya Scarlet. Long time no see.”

Before Cold could take another breath, Barry surged forward and shoved him by the lapels of his parka straight into the glass wall between the cortex and the med bay. There was a crunch as the glass splintered from the impact and Cold let out an uncharacteristic cry of pain before cutting it off and trying to pull up his usual smirk.

“Now now, Barry. Play nice. You wouldn’t hurt an unarmed man, would you?” Cold said, raising his hands to show their lack of his signature weapon.

“Ha, yeah. Like I’m going to take your word that you’re unarmed.” Barry almost growled as he sped through giving Cold a once over to look for hidden weapons.

Much to his surprise, he found nothing.

“I didn’t come here to pick a fight, Scarlet. I came because we need your help.”

“We? You think I’m going to help you and the Rogues out after the number of heists you’ve pulled lately?”

Colds eyes flashed with something like pride.

“Lisa’s in charge of the Rogues these days, but I’m glad she’s been keeping you on your toes” came his smirking reply before his face fell back to its usual state of cool aloofness.

“Then who needs my help?”

“We do”

Barry and Cisco spun back to the entrance of the Lab to see Professor Stein, looking like he’d crawled over razor wire, half supporting a heavily limping Jax, whos other arm was held over the shoulder of Ray Palmer. Ray was covered in bruises, one eye mostly closed thanks to the swelling and blood oozing slowly from a cut on his lip.

Behind them came Kendra, wings out but drooping and one was clearly broken if the angle at which it hung was anything to go by. Sara Lance was being carried bridal style by Mick Rory, the woman bleeding heavily from a wound under her hair, while Mick had a long gash from one shoulder across his back to his opposite hip.

“Shit” was all Cisco said before he dived for the intercom button and yelled for Caitlin to come in from the kitchen.

Barry was frozen for a second, watching as Caitlins trained eye took in the strange scene but immediately taking stock of visible injuries and giving instructions.

“Get her on the bed” she ordered Rory, who carried Sara into the med bay and placed her on the hospital bed with which Barry was uncomfortably familiar.

“Cisco, triage kit” she threw him a sealed box “get working on Professor Stein and….” she hesitated for a second as though not quite believing what she was about to say “Heatwaves wounds. Barry!”

Barry was still holding Cold against the glass, having been momentarily stunned into inaction by the strangeness around him, but he let go when Caitlin called his name and made to step away from Cold.

The moment he did, Cold swayed violently and Barry had to zip back to catch him before he fell face first into the floor.

“Lower him down then go and get the extra beds from the treadmill room. I think we’re going to need them” Caitlin said, before Barry flashed away.

He came back with three more emergency fold away beds which his speed allowed him to erect in mere seconds, grabbed Cold up from the Cortex floor and placed him down on one of them.

Caitlin moved away from Sara, past Professor Stein who was sat in a chair having his wounds cleaned by Cisco, and came to the bed on which Cold was lay.

She slowly opened the parka and lifted up his jumper to reveal ugly purple and black bruising across the entire lower left side of his body.

“He’s bleeding internally. He needs a hospital right now, Barry. There’s nothing I can do about this here.”

“Wait!”

That was a new voice. A British voice. And it came from a man in a long brown coat pulling a wheeled stainless steel looking case behind him.

He strode straight into the med bay, looking as worse for wear as all of the others, pulled the case up next to Colds bed and opened it. A telescopic arm emerged from the top and curved out to dangle over Colds body, while the Brit pressed a series of small buttons on a keypad on the top.

A small circle of blue light appeared on Colds stomach, gradually expanding to cover more and more of him.

“Report, Gideon?” the British man asked of thin air, but he was answered immediately by a disembodied female voice.

“His injuries are serious, Captain. I can heal him, however doing so will cause considerable drain to my mobile power reserves.”

The British man hesitated for a moment, clearly considering his options before...

“DO IT!!!!” shouted the three voices of Stein, Rory and Palmer.

“Okay, Gideon. Do what you can.”

“Certainly, Captain Hunter.” was the reply, before the broad patch of blue light narrowed to a small point of orange and started moving in glowing arcs over Colds skin.

Once Caitlin had finished checking over her patients, none of whose injuries were as serious as they looked, she, Cisco and Barry moved together into the doorway of the med bay ready to ask what the hell was going on. Before they could utter a word, the British man spoke.

“Right. I think perhaps we owe our hosts and explanation.” turning to Barry and holding out his hand “My name is Captain Rip Hunter, I’m a time master from the future and my crew and I need your help.”


	2. Chapter 2

Cold had never been one to wake slowly or gently. His mind went from 0-60 in less than a second and his body was never far behind. But this time it was different.

He felt himself coming back to consciousness, but his body was still heavy and unresponsive. The only other memory he had of feeling like this he had been recovering from surgery the one time he had allowed himself to seek hospital treatment for an injury.

As his mind cleared more of the haze, he began to make out the sound of voices.

Sara! He thought as the White Canarys voice came through the fog. The next voice he heard belonged to Stein, so at least one half of Firestorm survived. No, wait, that was Jax. So they both made it out. Palmer and Mick could be heard a bit less clearly than the others, so obviously further away and finally, the sound of Kendra arguing quietly with the sanctimonious jerk that had brought them all together indicated that she and Rip had made it out alive too.

He blamed the continued mental fuzziness for the  _ thank god they’re all ok _ he sent up in a silent prayer.

Finally, his body began to catch up to his brain and his eyes began to flutter open.

“Captain Hunter, Mr Snart appears to be waking up” came the ever unruffled voice of Gideon. Huh, must still be on the Waverider. Usually the gentle movement of the ship as it made its way through time and space would have been recognisable, but they were obviously parked up somewhere to be so quiet and stationary.

“Mr Snart, welcome back to the land of the living” Rip said with something that sounded suspiciously like relief... or maybe warmth?

“How long was I out?” He asked, blinking against the sudden harsh light above him.

“Less than 2 hours. Gideon is more efficient than most of the medical professionals from your time. With the possible exception of Dr Snow here.”

“Snow?” Cold asked, blinking a little more fiercely in an attempt to force his eyes to focus.

And, nope. They definitely weren’t aboard the Waverider. This looked like…..oh!

Memories came tumbling back to Cold.

The fight with Savage and his men in 1930s Central City. Everyone injured and weak before the building they were in practically fell on top of them. Helping the team back to the Waverider and getting the hell out of dodge, but damaged, life support failing and only the power for one short (ish) jump through time.

Rip yelling that he was aiming for 2016 and muttering something under his breath about Team Flash before the ship hurtled through time, shot out of the time stream and came to a sudden crash just outside of Star Labs.

Fortunately, the cloak on the ship was undamaged so they weren’t attracting any undue attention, and as the least injured looking of the bunch, Rip sent Cold ahead into the Labs to try and secure the help of Team Flash while the others followed a few minutes behind having to carry and support their team mates.

Rip should have known that sending Captain Cold to ask for help was a bad idea, especially from Team Flash given their somewhat shaky history. He couldn’t help slipping back into full on villain mode the moment he saw Ciscos look of shock and fear and Barrys righteous anger.

And now, here he was, on a fold away bed in the med bay of Star Labs as Caitlin Snows face came into his line of vision and began shining a penlight into his eyes.

“How do you feel?” She asked in a tight voice. I suppose he couldn’t blame her, he had kidnapped her and strapped her to a chair over the top of a bomb after all.

“Peachy”

“Answer the question, Snart, or she’s not going to be able to help you.” Came Saras voice from somewhere outside of his view.

He huffed an overdramatic sigh.

“Considering the building that fell on us and the almighty beating I took before that, I feel fine. A little bruised and my ribs are uncomfortable but otherwise ok.”

“Good” Caitlin said, desisting with the light and putting her hands on her hips “I’m not entirely sure what Gideon did to fix you but your internal bleeding has stopped and your blood pressure and heart rate have returned to normal. If you feel like it, we can try and sit you up?”

“Yes” Cold replied, before adding a slightly softer “Please.”

Caitlin looked taken aback for a brief moment, before her cool professionalism returned and she lent forward to take his arm, while Rip stepped in on the other side, and they both slowly pulled him to a more seated position while someone lifted the head of the bed up and locked it in place.

Just as gently, Caitlin and Rip lowered Cold back onto the raised back of the bed and made sure his pillows were supporting him, before pulling back far enough that Cold could see out into the room beyond.

Sara was propped up in the hospital bed to his left, head covered in a bandage that had small spots of red just above her right eye. She gave him a smile and a wave of her hand. The smile he returned, but the moment he tried to raise his arm his ribs protested in a painful way and he grimaced.

The rest of Teams Legends and Flash were stood around the Cortex leaning on desks or seated in swivel chairs talking, but as soon as Caitlin and Rip stepped away from Cold the conversations died away and everyone descended on him.

“Idiot. This is all your fault, you know that?” Mick said, clapping a heavy hand on his shoulder and making him wince with the pain that shot through his ribs. Micks half grin half frown said that had been intentional, but it was clear he was glad to see his partner alive.

Cold just smirked and nodded.

“I’m glad you’re alright, Leonard. I owe you a real debt for saving Jeffersons life” Stein said, approaching the other side of the bed looking filled with gratitude - and fondness?

“Yeah, thanks man. I don’t know where I’d be if you hadn’t grabbed me when you did.” Jax chimed in from his swivel chair, his leg bandaged and clearly struggling with the crutches in his hands.

“You’d be under a large metal beam in an even larger pile of rubble” was Steins reply as he walked away from the bed and towards his younger half. The tone of sincere fear in his voice enough to dispel any annoyance that Jax might have felt at that. He knew Stein cared, he just had a funny way of showing it.

Ray stepped into the space Stein had been occupying, putting a much gentler hand than Micks had been on his shoulder as he said his thanks.

Ray was followed by Kendra, whos wings had returned to wherever they go when not manifested, and she leant down to place an unexpected kiss on his cheek with a whispered “thank you”.

Cold was glad when everyone had returned to their places in the Cortex. The camaraderie and gratitude felt like a warm weight in his chest and it was an unusual feeling, but not at all unpleasant.

Cisco and Barry had been watching the almost tender moments between Team Legends with ill disguised disbelief, but when everyone had stepped away from Cold, and Caitlin had begun another quick check of Saras bandage, Barry stepped up to Colds side.

“I told you.” The grin on Barrys face said everything it needed to but Barry carried on regardless. “I knew there was good in you. You’re a hero.”

Cold scoffed.

“Tsk, hardly.” He meant to go on and say more but it occurred to him that nothing short of all out lying would be enough to disprove the evidence Barry had seen and heard in the last couple of hours.

Barry seemed to know that that was what Cold was thinking, because his grin got even bigger as he raised an eyebrow in challenge.

Cold just scowled, which, annoyingly, made Barrys smile grow impossibly bigger.

Cold couldn’t help it. His scowl faltered and the corners of his lips turned up in a small, but honest, smile.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cisco is geeking out, Len is sleepy and Barry is his usual adorable self.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A very helpful commenter drew to my attention that I had given absolutely no idea of when this was taking place or who knows what!!! So please have another look over the updated summary with my notes on when this is happening and my versions of whats going on in the teams!

“And you should see the heat exchangers! And the propulsion systems! Oh, oh and the CO2 scrubbers are even more awesome then the ones they jerry rigged for Apollo 13! And…”

“Cisco!!!” Cold interrupted the enthusiastic engineer through gritted teeth. “We get it. The Waverider is every mechanical engineers wet dream. Would you mind keeping the effusive babbling to a minimum while people are trying to sleep?”

“Sorry.”

It was past midnight and most of the Legends crew had left Star Labs for some much needed shore leave and recovery time. Cold and Sara were both still being kept for observation and Palmer was somewhere around helping Rip with repairs to the ship until Sara was allowed to leave and they would head back to Star City together.

Cisco had been assisting with the repair work too, until Rip had clearly lost patience with having a man sized labradoodle running around his damaged ship trying to learn all he could about the future tech.

Which meant that since 11pm, Cold had had to listen while Cisco waxed poetic about everything from the holographic projectors that allowed them to communicate with Gideon (Old hat, I mean we’ve seen all that shit before) to the garbage disposal system that vented all waste into the wake of the engines to be incinerated by the heat (Cool, man! Just, cool!).

Cold wriggled around on the bed for a moment trying to get comfortable, before closing his eyes and attempting sleep. He must have been successful because the next thing he knows is the sound of alarms ringing through the cortex.

“Fire on 58th and South. Apartment building” Cisco informed Barry before he sped into his super-suit and flashed away.

“I'm tapped into the 911 call system. Apparently there was some kind of explosion in the basement or ground floor and the fire is spreading fast.” Cisco informed Barry after a few seconds of tapping on his keyboard. 

Not for the first time, Cold couldn’t help but imagine a world where Cisco was part of his Rogues. He'd make a pretty formidable villain. If it wasn't for the hyperactive puppy vibe he gave off at least!

Barrys voice came over the speakers “I'm here, and it's bad. ‘Towering Inferno’ bad”

“Just start from the bottom and work your way up. I'll try and work out any vulnerable residents you'll need to find fast”

The comms went silent for a moment while Cisco resumed his typing. 

“Barry, 5th floor, wounded vet. Can't walk and appears to live alone.”

“I'm on 4th, I'll get him next”

“14th floor, elderly couple, one has Alzheimer's.”

“Got it. I'll be there soon.”

Cold was watching in awe of Team Flash. It was strange to know that somewhere out in the city Barry was saving the lives of the people Cisco was describing.

In less than 10 minutes Barry cleared an entire 25 storey building, used his powers to control the blaze while the firefighters put it out, hugged a few grateful survivors and had bolted back to the cortex.

“DUDE!!!! My suit!!!” Cisco practically shrieked when he saw the considerably soot and smoke damaged material covering his friend.

“Wow?! Seriously? Not ‘well done for saving all those people Barry, you were amazing’? Instead you’re gonna focus on a bit of smoke and dust?”

“A  _ bit _ of smoke and dust? It’s gonna take me hours to get that thing cleaned off again. And I bet there’s microscopic crap in every single external sensor that I’m going to have to clean out and replace. This thing is a finely tuned work of art, it deserves better, man.”

Barry flashed out of the suit and into his street clothes again, before draping the suit over Ciscos arms with an over exaggerated show of reverence and a sly grin in Colds direction that told him this was a very regular argument.

As Cisco walked out of the room, cradling the suit, Barry walked over and dropped into the chair next to Colds bed. They sat in a strangely comfortable silence for a few minutes before Cold gave a yawn that he couldn’t quite stifle.

“Caitlin says you should be good to go tomorrow, so you can actually get to sleep in your own bed at last.” Barry said, noticing the barely concealed yawn.

“Not sure how easy that’ll be. I’ve kinda gotten used to sleeping on the Waverider. It’ll feel a little strange to sleep on something that isn’t moving.”

Cold shifted in his bed, and winced as the movement made his still sore ribs ache.

Barry rubbed his hand across the back of his neck, suddenly looking awkward.

“Look, Cold, I..” Barry began before Cold cut him off.

“Len.”

“Huh?”

“Call me Len. I’ve known your name for a good while now, it’s about time you started using mine don’t you think?”

“Huh, sure...Len. Anyway, I was going to say…” Barry resumed rubbing his neck before Len interrupted again

“Don’t bother, kid.”

Barry just looked at him with raised eyebrows

“You’re beating yourself up about how our little greeting went, worrying that you made my injuries worse or something equally as guilt-inducing, and I’m telling you, don’t bother.”

“But, I hurt you?”

“No, I  _ was _ hurt. You didn’t know. And now I’m fine.” Len spread his arms to show how fine he was, and winced again. “Well, almost fine. Don’t beat yourself up about things that aren’t your fault, Scarlet.”

“Well, I’m still sorry, but I guess I can assume you wont hold it against me!” Barry gave a small half shrug, but he was at least smiling again. “I’m gonna go and crash. I’ll be next door in the staff room if you need me. Get some rest.” He got out of the chair and headed for the door, looking back from the doorway.

“Good night...Len”

“Night, Barry”

Len watched Barry whip round the corner of the Cortex and away before he let a small smile grace his features.

Team Flash was a pain in the arse when they were pitted against you. But when on the same side, they were kind of adorable.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sara notices stuff and gently shoves our oblivious little dears towards each other by pointing it out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope people like this.  
> Please feel free to let me know if my British peeks through when I'm writing. I sometime over angliscize things so just let me know if anything seems out of character becasue of that. X

“I saw that.”

Saras voice came so suddenly and unexpectedly that he jumped. And then sucked in a pained gasp as the movement jolted his injured ribs.

“You saw what?” He asked after a few seconds of slow, steady breaths through the aftershocks of the bolt of pain.

“You. And  _ The Flash _ !” She put a strange emphasis on the words that Len was not keen to delve into, but it seemed Sara had more to say.

“You like him!”

“What? Of course I don’t. That head wound of yours is making you crazy.” He replied, resisting the urge to fold his arms across his body in a defensive posture.

Saras voice was significantly softer when she responded.

“Don’t do that with me, Len. The rest of the team, maybe, but not with me. I saw it.”

Len just looked at the blonde for a moment.

Over the months on the Waverider, Sara had become a trusted ally. But more than that, she was friend and confidant. The first real friend he had made since Mick. The rest of the team added themselves to that list slowly in the time since, but his bond with Sara had been almost immediate.

They both had blood on their hands, had a history of less that moral behaviour, hers with the league and his as a thief, and yet they were both looking for a way to become more than their pasts.

“What did you see, exactly” he asked, not as a challenge but out of genuine interest.

He had always thought Barry was kinda cute, the red leather certainly didn’t do any harm, and he had spent much of the evening thinking he was ‘adorable’. But Sara seemed to think she’d seen more, and a very small part of him was curious to know what her expert observational skills had picked up on.

“You’re injured, in the base of operations of your nemesis, without your weapon. The Captain Cold I know would have been on guard every second, but you are possibly the most relaxed I have ever seen you. The way you hold your head, lower so you can make eye contact; your shoulders are lower, like your muscles are less tense. Your voice is generally softer, but when you were speaking to Barry a second ago, you were warm, comforting, gentle.”

Sara shrugged her shoulders.

“Whether you realise it or not, you’re something different around him. And it’s a good different.”

Sara leaned back in her bed, resting her head on her pillows again and closing her eyes, knowing that there was no response Len could give to the bombshell she had dropped on him.

Len was just sat in shock for a moment, before he laid his own head back and tried to find sleep again. It was difficult with Saras words bouncing around the inside of his skull but he eventually drifted off to dreams of soft laughter and hazel eyes.

~~~~~

“....And it’s a good different.”

Barry had zipped to the kitchen, before remembering he had left his phone in the cortex and turning around. Instead of using his speed, he simply jogged back down the short stretch of corridor, but he came to a halt at the sound of Saras voice.

It sounded like she was teasing Len about something, so Barry stopped to listen.

Lens voice was firm when he responded, and Barry could just imagine him with his arms crossed across his chest and his eyebrows drawn in challenge.

He was about to amble around the corner and add a quip of his own when he heard the change in Sara.

“Don’t do that with me, Len. The rest of the team, maybe, but not with me. I saw it.”

Barry remained rooted to the spot.

He shouldn’t be listening to this.

“What did you see, exactly”

The defiant lilt was gone from Lens voice.

Saras short speech was...powerful. Barry had no idea that he invoked such a change in Len, he assumed it was all thanks to his journey with the Legends.

Sara had clearly gone back to sleep, and Len was silent but awake, when Barry finally unfroze from his spot by the doorway.

He walked back to the staff room and threw himself onto the futon.

He didn’t know it, but his restlessness was mirrored on the other side of the wall, and they both finally succumbed to sleep within minutes of one another, Barry's thoughts filled with blue eyes and a devilish smirk.

~~~~~

Barry was awoken by a crashing sound from the Cortex, followed by muffled speech that sounded expletive laden simply from its tone!

He jumped up off the futon and zipped into the Cortex to see Len, shirtless on the floor clutching at his ribs and swearing so colourfully that even Sara looked scandalised.

Or she would have done if she wasn’t giggling so hard from her crouched position at his side.

“I told you to wait for Snow to give you the all clear. And then I told you to let me help you. But no. You decided to be a martyr and do it by yourself, and now you’ve probably damaged something else.”

Sara had him mostly upright again by this point, but Len was hissing his breaths between his teeth and clearly in pain. Barry stepped forward, to Lens injured side, and tried to position himself under his arm without brushing against his badly bruised torso.

Between them, Sara and Barry managed to get Len seated back on the bed. Sara herself looked a little wobbly as she made her way back to her own bed.

“Sorry, guys, I guess it was a harder blow to the head than I thought.”

“Are you okay? Barry asked

“Just a little dizzy, I’ll be fine.”

Barry turned back to Len.

“Where were you trying to go?”

Len just raised his eyebrow. Barry got the message.

Before Len could stop him, Barry had pulled Len flush against his body and sped to the bathroom down the hall. He set Len down in front of the urinal and turned his back.

“A little warning next time, Scarlet.”

Barry just smiled to himself.

When Len was finished and washed up, Barry pulled him in again and sped back to the med bay. He stopped beside the bed ready to help Len get back in, and found their faces mere inches apart. Barry tore his eyes away from Lens luscious looking mouth to look in his eyes, and found Len staring at him, pupils slightly blown.

Their moment broke as Rip clattered into the Cortex, with Ray behind him, both looking exhausted but happy. Barry and Len pulled fractionally away from one another, before Barry stepped away entirely having seated Len on the bed.

“Hey guys! How are you both feeling this morning?” Ray almost chirped at them.

Barry quickly turned to Sara, having completely forgotten about her while so focussed on Len. He could feel himself starting to blush, but she refrained from commenting on the moment she’d witnessed between them.

“Pretty good, Ray. Just waiting on the all clear from Snow when she gets in, then we can head back to Starling! Kendra going to be joining us?”

Ray gave a dazzling smile.

“She’s on her way over now, and we can head out together.”

“Great!” There was only the barest hint of sarcasm in Saras tone, and Ray was too happy to even notice.

As he and Rip updated Sara, Len and Barry on the progress of their repairs, Barry couldn’t help zoning out and focusing instead on Len.

He was glad for the added distraction of Caitlin and Ciscos arrival, because the revelation that he was most definitely attracted to Leonard Snart was one that was going to take a bit of getting used to.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Running isn't the only thing Barry does fast.  
> Apparently he falls pretty fast too.

“You ok, Barry?”

Caitlins hand was on his upper arm, and her sculpted brows were drawn down in concern as Barry jerked back to awareness. He hadn’t even noticed his friend approach, so lost was he in his own mind.

“Yeah, I’m fine. What’s the news? Sara and Snart being discharged?”

“Sara is good to go on the promise that Kendra and Ray don’t let her over exert herself too much. She does still have a fairly bad concussion but she pretty much demanded her Bo staff when I mentioned she might need to stay another night so…..” Caitlin trailed off.

Barry grinned. Woe betide the person who ever tried to stop the White Canary from doing what she wanted!

“What about Snart?”

Barry had left the med lab pretty soon after Caitlin and Cisco had arrived, needing a few minutes alone to process the jolt of desire that had hit him as he held Snart, _Len_!

The guy was hot. Anyone with eyes could see that. And he was trying to be a better man, his travels with the Legends proved it. But he was still a thief. And the Flash's enemy. Technically.

But he was also more than all of those things. He was smart, loyal (at least to Lisa and possibly the Legends crew), strong, funny, self-assured…… Barry could go on thinking like that for hours.

The fact was, the only thing causing the knot of tension Barry was feeling was Lens _past_.

He had killed a man.

In front of Barrys eyes, he had killed a man.

That was not something Barry would ever be able to forget.

“He’s still pretty banged up. I’ve convinced him to stay another night. Heatwave is coming by in a bit with Golden Glider and some of his clothes. And _wow_ , that is not a sentence I could have imagined myself saying a year ago”

Barry huffed a laugh.

“I know, things have changed a bit recently! Bet Cisco was pleased to hear Lisas coming?”

“Don’t! He pretty much ran out of the med bay when he heard. And when he came back I swear he had combed his hair and put on cologne!”

Barrys laugh gained energy at that idea, and not just because of the image of Cisco frantically preening in front of a mirror to impress Lisa. It reminded him that he wasn’t the only one with a thing for a person with a somewhat sketchy past.

Instead of continuing to brood alone, Barry followed Caitlin back to the join the others.

“Dude, I’m telling you! Interdimensional travel totally trumps time travel! We’ve been to a whole different version of Earth! I met my evil supervillain counterpart! There’s no way time travel beats that.”

Ciscos voice had been getting gradually louder as Barry and Caitlin approached the Cortex, a smile spreading across both of their faces as they began to understand the conversation he was having, one they had both been waiting for him to jump on since the arrival of the Waverider and its crew.

As they rounded the corner they saw Cisco on his swivel chair, lollipop in hand being waved like a conductor's baton as his gestures became ever more expansive. Rip was stood in the centre of the Cortex floor, arms crossed across his chest and looking vaguely murderous, Len was still in his bed watching with raised eyebrows and an amused smirk, while Ray had taken a seat on Saras bed and was struggling to contain his excitement at the idea of travelling to alternate dimensions.

“Wait, you’re a supervillain on another earth?”

“Was. Zoom killed me because I was trying to double cross him. I mean he, _he_ was trying to double cross Zoom. _Reverb_ , stupid name. Vibe is so much better” Cisco had trailed off, almost muttering the last part to himself, only Barry able to see how much the memory of his counterparts gruesome demise affected him.

Rip seemed to sense that Ciscos train of thought was being taken up with something less than pleasant, so he didn’t press the ‘which is better, time or interdimensional travel’ contest, but somehow Barry could tell the former Time Master had no intention of letting it go.

“Right, well, I still have repairs to conduct, and they will go much slower without the assistance of Mr Palmer, so if you’ll excuse me.”

Rip started to stride out of the Cortex but was forced to stop dead as he nearly ran straight into Jesse and Harry.

The two men stared at one another before Harry looked around at the rest of the people gathered in the Cortex.

“We have guests I see” he said, his eyes flicking quickly to Barry in annoyance at being out of the loop.

Caitlin jumped in.

“Harry, Jesse, this is Sara Lance aka the White Canary, Ray Palmer aka Atom, Leonard Snart aka Captain Cold  and their Captain Rip Hunter”

Harry and Jesse both looked at Len.

“ _Captain_ Cold?” Jesse asked “Not Citizen Cold?”

“What?” the three voices of Cisco, Len and Barry asked in unison

“ _Citizen Cold_ . Urgh! What kind of a name is that? It has no menace! Terrible! Terrible villain name” Cisco shook his head with vigour at the mere idea of a _Citizen_ Cold.

Jesse and Harry both looked at Cisco.

“Villian?” Harry asked, his voice dropping in pitch very slightly, a warning sign that Barry recognised instantly as his ‘papa-bear-about-to-rip-you-to-shreds’ voice.

“Former! Former villain” he interjected quickly, trying to derail Harry before he could turn scary.

Len just raised an eyebrow.

“Wait a minute. You’re Harrison Wells? Aren’t you supposed to be dead?” Rip asked, drawing Harrys attention away from Len

“Alternate universe” Cisco supplied to Rip with a grin, popping his lollipop back into his mouth, intertwining his fingers behind his head with his elbows raised, and leaning back in his chair. The whole gesture would have look extremely smug had it not been for Ciscos over exuberance causing him to nearly tip backwards out of the chair and choke on his lollipop.

The resulting peals of laughter from all but Harry and Rip broke the tension.

“Well, I’m assuming that even from an alternate reality you are still a genius?” Rip asked of Harry

“So they tell me?”

“So who tells you?”

“Everyone.”

Rip smiled at Harrys response, and clapped him on the shoulder.

“How do you feel about time travel?” he asked, leading Harry firmly out of the cortex and towards the Waverider, keen to get the help of the Earth-2 genius in fixing his damaged ship.

Surprisingly, Harry went willingly as Rip explained more.

After all, what harm could it do for Harry to have this information if he’s destined to return to his own Earth?

 

Back in the Cortex, the giggles at Ciscos near chair-tumble-choking-death were subsiding and Barry found his eyes drawn back to Len. He had a hand across his ribs, the laughter had obviously hurt him somewhat, but his eyes were bright and crinkled at the corners with mirth.

It was a really enticing sight.

Oh crap!

If anyone had asked only 72 hours ago how he felt about Captain Cold, Barry would have replied with his long held belief “there’s good in him”.

Right now? Barry wouldn’t mind _being_ the good in him.

He needed advice from a friend, and he knew just who to call.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not regret the "Barry wouldn't mind being the good on him" line in the slightest.
> 
> I do regret not being able to remember the fic I read that line in and that made me howl with laughter for about 5 minutes. When I find it again I will be linking it so you can read the amazingness for yourselves.
> 
> Author of that amazing line, if you read this and are pissed at me for stealing it, I am sorry! But I swear to you that in this case, imitation is the most sincere form of flattery!!!


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Barry gets a little help from a friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Only a short update this time but it should help move Barry forward!

“Snart? Leonard Snart? _Captain Cold?_ You, Barry Allen, good guy extraordinaire, are attracted to _Leonard Snart?_ ”

“Oh god! This was such a bad idea. Please, just forget I ever said anything?!” Barry groaned, dropping his head into his hands.

Felicitys laugh rang out of his speakers, happy and warming. Her smile, as she removed her glasses and rubbed her eyes, was genuine, if a little incredulous.

“Well, can’t say I blame you. The guy is pretty damn hot, even if I did have to threaten him with a blinged up vacuum cleaner that once!”

The tales of his heroics on the Waverider had obviously gotten back to Felicity as she seemed to show no ill feeling towards the once villain. There was a pause, as Barry lifted his head to look back into the camera and Felicitys laugh turned into a more gentle smile.

“Is it mutual?” she asked, sensing - even through miles of cable - that Barry needed something from her.

“I... _think_ so? Sara seems to think he’s different around me. Calmer, warmer, less guarded maybe? And there was definitely _something_ there when we….” Barrys voice trailed off and a slight flush coloured his cheeks as he remembered the heat in his gaze just that morning, while Barry had held his body close to keep him from falling.

“Oh my god, Barry Allen! You cannot start a sentence like that then trail off and pull that face. I want the details. NOW!”

Barry rubbed his hand over the back of his neck, a nervous habit, and gave Felicity the details she was wrangling for. How he’d helped Len off the floor, sped him to the bathrooms and how they had come to a stop next to the bed, Len still held against his chest. He described the smell of him, wintery - like pine and mint and frost - the way his lips had looked - slightly parted and moist - and the dilation in his eyes that had nearly thrown Barry off balance too. Before Rip and Ray had interrupted.

“Jesus, Barry, you’ve got it bad. And, BTW, you seriously need to start up some kind of sex chat line because that was inappropriately hot!” Barry just grinned, flushing again at the complement of someone he had once longed for. But not anymore. Now they were friends. And that was why he had called her.

Barrys face fell again, and Felicity saw.

“What is it, Barry? Why did you really call me? I want to help you, I do! But I can’t tell you what you want to hear unless I know what the question is.”

“He’s killed, Felicity. He’s killed people, three right in front of me. And I’m worried that everytime I look at him I’ll feel their weight on me.”

“How many?”

“Huh?”

“How many people has Snart killed?”

“Five I know of, including the three I witnessed. All during the commision of some kind of heist.”

“67.”

“What?”

“That’s how many people Oliver has killed, that I know about. And I’m not talking people that were indirectly killed by his actions because that would be a ridiculous number. I mean Oliver has delivered a killing blow to 67 different people.”

“How….” Barry couldn’t finish the question, but he didn’t need to.

“How can I still love him knowing that? I comfort myself with the knowledge that I have helped him to a place where killing is a last resort, not a tactic. With the surety that many many more would be dead if _not_ for his actions. And with the hope that I can drive him to be even better.”

Barry smiled at her honesty.

“But that’s love. I mean, you love Oliver. I’m not in love with Len yet. I just….want him.”

“You said _yet_ . You’re not in love with him _yet._ Meaning you could be. But even if you hadn’t said that, my response would still be the same. You will never know unless you try. He’s trying to be a better man, Barry. He’s gotten himself beaten up and nearly killed to try and save the world. I think he deserves a chance at getting what he wants too. And you can say whatever you want, Barry, if the way you described things with him earlier is anything to go by, you are definitely what he wants!”

The tender moment was once again broken by Felicitys filthy smirk. And Barry couldn’t help laughing in reply.

“Go and get him, Barry. You deserve what you want once in awhile too you know!” Felicity finished with a smile. After saying her goodbyes and blowing him a kiss through the screen, she signed off and Barry fell back in his chair.

Speaking to Felicity had eased his mind. He knew there was something between him and Len, and now he was sure he wanted to pursue it. The only problem now was his own bumbling awkwardness versus Lens cool brand of assured confidence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I haven't watched Arrow for ages so I have no idea whether Oli and Felicity are still together, but for the purpose of this fic please assume they are happy and strong and well adjusted!


End file.
